River from Serenity [Archive] - Wizards Community

River from Serenity [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Hasmead_Guy
01-29-06, 02:12 AM I don't know where else to put this thread, so here goes-

What would she be? A psion with levels in monk?
Mysteria
01-29-06, 05:06 AM Uhm, do you want us to tell you what your character is, just based on a name? Or is that a character from somewhere we're supposed to know?
Hasmead_Guy
01-29-06, 10:57 AM Serenity was a movie, and River was a character in it. I'm basing a PC on her, and don't know what to give it.
Arkonth
01-29-06, 06:30 PM Uhm, do you want us to tell you what your character is, just based on a name? Or is that a character from somewhere we're supposed to know?

While I really can't help the OP (River is way to ridiculously poweful to place in DnD), I feel a need to chastise you for not catching a Firefly reference.
Harrow Blade
01-29-06, 10:21 PM River is as she is in the movie and the series is more powerful than could be represented by anything less than an epic psion telepath/seer monk combo. Her personality however gererally prohibits the full display of her power and capability.

Roleplaying a character like river in dnd would be difficult but rewarding if you manage to pull it off. You have to remember that in the movie and series she was a girl of about 10 years old when she was taken to the institute and in many ways she still is a ten year old girl. To play a character that is closely based on river you would have to be satisfied to run away from some things you could beat normally because although river can do a crazy amount of stuff she doen't know everything she can do.

Like I said it's a challenge and not one to take on lightly if you want to pay hommage to one of the greatest of the scifi crazies that ever graced our tvs.
Pandaemoni
01-30-06, 01:46 AM I agree, River was too powerful to really repesent accurately at non-epic levels, especially starting her out as a brand spanking new character. I suppose I'd start her out as Monk 1...and then let her pick up Psion levels later on.

While I really can't help the OP (River is way to ridiculously poweful to place in DnD), I feel a need to chastise you for not catching a Firefly reference.

A decent show, but kind of overrated. It had clever dialogue, I saw it as the "West Wing" of Sci-Fi.

The characters were too flat for me to find it completely engaging. Every episode was "Yeah I get it, the Captain has a heart of gold hidden beneath his gruff and pragmatic exterior. I also got it the last time, when his name was 'Han Solo.'"

He even bickered with the hooker-character in precisely the same way as Han and Leia, with neither wanting to admit their very thinly disguised feelings.

Nothing against people who really liked it, but those folks who missed it hardly need to be chastised for not seeing a show that only a tiny minority saw in its first airing. It might have been a great show, if they'd had a few seasons to develop the characters out beyond the 2-D level, but ...

In a sense, it was like the Matrix. When I saw that film I envisionsed how great it could be if they continued the saga and really fleshed out some of the possibilities of the franchise. Then they did....but the sequels were crap (imo). Firefly was a good show and it could have been a great show in the future, but in my opinion it didn't really break any new ground in its first (and last) season, and much of the "genius" that is attributed to the show relates to what "might have been," rather than on the actual merits of the show itself.
Thindelock
01-31-06, 11:33 AM I'd say the ideal for River would be a monk-seer (psion) gestalt character in a non-gestalt game. Which is, of course, broken beyond recognition, but she is supposed to be incredibly powerful. (Gestalt is in Unearthed Arcana, if you're interested.) I would even Prestige the monk side of the gestalt into the Fist of Zuoken class (unapproachable east) to get the River vs. the Reavers effect: "Yes, I can flurry of blows with a waraxe in each hand."

To pull it off as a PC without Gestalt rules, consider Psychic Warrior with lots of Expanded Knowledge feats to give her some powers off the Seer, Telepath, and general Psion list. Alternately, monk into the Fist of Zuoken prestige class isn't a bad call; it doesn't give the full psionic might of River, but it emphasises her kick-butt combat ability as seen in the movie.
Pandaemoni
01-31-06, 01:11 PM I'd say the ideal for River would be a monk-seer (psion) gestalt character in a non-gestalt game. Which is, of course, broken beyond recognition, but she is supposed to be incredibly powerful. (Gestalt is in Unearthed Arcana, if you're interested.) I would even Prestige the monk side of the gestalt into the Fist of Zuoken class (unapproachable east) to get the River vs. the Reavers effect: "Yes, I can flurry of blows with a waraxe in each hand."

To pull it off as a PC without Gestalt rules, consider Psychic Warrior with lots of Expanded Knowledge feats to give her some powers off the Seer, Telepath, and general Psion list. Alternately, monk into the Fist of Zuoken prestige class isn't a bad call; it doesn't give the full psionic might of River, but it emphasises her kick-butt combat ability as seen in the movie.

Making her a gestalt character is a clever solution.
Tlazcotl
02-01-06, 12:48 PM Well if you can't tell by my signature below, I am a huge Serenity fan myself. :D

Let's see here.
River is a difficult character to represent with simple PC classes. In order to play her correctly, you're going to need a bit of help from your DM.
She is very adept at physical combat, of course. Monk would be appropriate; but doesn't really represent her martial aptitude very accurately (3/4 HD BAB).
The hard part (mentioned above) is representing her range of psionic abilities.
Of course she would possess the ability to read minds but, in order to represent her particular "flavor" of extrasensory perception, I suggest giving her some sort of constant telepathy combined with the Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness (pg. 126).
She never consciously delved into the deep memories of others, but did somehow rip a good chunk of buried secrets from the minds of "Key members of Parliment" pre-movie, so the Mind Probe power would be a viability. She was consciously able to read the surface thoughts of those around her, so Read Thoughts would also apply.

The last (and most difficult) ability to represent is River's psychosis. For this, I suggest consulting the Unearthed Arcana. That book has excellent suggestions for sanity points and how to deal with mental disorders.

-Tlaz
colyn kell
02-02-06, 12:14 PM I have actually thought about this a good deal. I've not seen all of the episodes of Firefly, but I have seen Serenity allot. According to the movie the only psi-power she has is the ability to read minds. I would only take the barest spellcasting and/or psionic levels to get "telepathy". After that, I would go all martial. Monk most certainly does not represent the character very well. I would suggest fighter, going into the only Prc that could possibly be River Tamm, Dervish. All ten levels of Dervish. If gestalt is an option, take a few spellcasting levels and monk on one side, and fighter/dervish on the other. Monk would be an option if it had a full BaB, after all, she doesn't miss.
aelryinth
02-03-06, 03:37 AM Excuse me, she's a programmed fighting machine taking on a bunch of level 2-3 warriors, fighters and barbarians stupified with constant rage. They have no armor to speak of, and an AC penalty.

If she has a TH bonus of +10 or greater, she's going to hit them every time.

I'd peg her about 12th level, VERY smart, VERY wise (aware), using D20 Modern Dex affects TH rolls (VERY graceful), and with Wis stacking as an insight bonus for all TH rolls and INt for AC as a result of her mindreading, as well as giving her a monk AC bonus.

In D@D, just mix up programmed fighter, psychic warror and monk levels.

She's awesome because she can dodge thrown things (all monks can), she's way higher level then a bunch of insane mooks, and she actually has AC bonuses. If she's as smart as they say, 20 Int....programming for 20 Wis and Dex...she's got a 25-27 AC at least going up against thugs with +5 or 6 to hit. Add Competence bonus for levels from D20 modern and she's effectively unhittable by those guys...and chopping them down like hash with just some Power Attacks and Flurries.

Really, Epic? Don't think so. Just imagine your twinked out level 12 fighter staring down a bunch of mooks. he'd look pretty impressive cleaving his way through the ranks with a zweihander, no?

==Aelryinth
Talen Lee
02-05-06, 09:09 PM Can someone clear up this 'Too Powerful To Be Nonepic' Nonsense? You're talking about a girl who beat up, what, Jayne when he was surprised? Jayne, who's worried about the 20d6 damage he'd take from falling out of the Serenity?

Seriously.

If you want to make a River-Like character, a Seer/Monk gestalt is an easy solution, a Fist of Zuoken a slightly less easy one (taking Expanded Power to get some of the predictive abilities). But please, let's put down the crack pipe and stop thinking Good At Things = Epic.
Tlazcotl
02-06-06, 04:51 PM Can someone clear up this 'Too Powerful To Be Nonepic' Nonsense? ...
...But please, let's put down the crack pipe and stop thinking Good At Things = Epic.

Thank you. I am also growing weary of the multitude of "they should be epic" posts.
If you haven't read a dungeons and dragons novel and then compared the fantastic exploits of a character to their published stat's (Faerunian characters would be the most obvious: Drizzt Do'Urden, Mirt the Moneylender, etc..) you might consider doing so.
These personalities pull off some seriously Terminator-style stunts but not all of them are epic. Some, (like Drizzt) may be higher level, but a quality dungeonmaster and interested players can pull off exciting and robust feats with just as much flair using their imaginations.

I am a staunch proponent of a balance between rules v. creative license, but a good game should sway one way or the other if doing so will increase the amount of fun that everyone has.

Sorry, don't mean to rant or burn anyone. Everyone enjoys a different game.
Just wanted to thank Talen Lee for voicing a congruent oppinion.

-Game on! :)
Talen Lee
02-06-06, 05:27 PM A fine example would be that a 35 on a Jump check will let you clear the world record. You can get a 35 on a jump check by level 10. You're not world-famous (able to be learned about Via Legend Lore) until level 11.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hasmead_Guy 01-29-06, 02:12 AM	I don't know where else to put this thread, so here goes- What would she be? A psion with levels in monk?
Mysteria 01-29-06, 05:06 AM	Uhm, do you want us to tell you what your character is, just based on a name? Or is that a character from somewhere we're supposed to know?
Hasmead_Guy 01-29-06, 10:57 AM	Serenity was a movie, and River was a character in it. I'm basing a PC on her, and don't know what to give it.
Arkonth 01-29-06, 06:30 PM	Uhm, do you want us to tell you what your character is, just based on a name? Or is that a character from somewhere we're supposed to know? While I really can't help the OP (River is way to ridiculously poweful to place in DnD), I feel a need to chastise you for not catching a Firefly reference.
Harrow Blade 01-29-06, 10:21 PM	River is as she is in the movie and the series is more powerful than could be represented by anything less than an epic psion telepath/seer monk combo. Her personality however gererally prohibits the full display of her power and capability. Roleplaying a character like river in dnd would be difficult but rewarding if you manage to pull it off. You have to remember that in the movie and series she was a girl of about 10 years old when she was taken to the institute and in many ways she still is a ten year old girl. To play a character that is closely based on river you would have to be satisfied to run away from some things you could beat normally because although river can do a crazy amount of stuff she doen't know everything she can do. Like I said it's a challenge and not one to take on lightly if you want to pay hommage to one of the greatest of the scifi crazies that ever graced our tvs.
Pandaemoni 01-30-06, 01:46 AM	I agree, River was too powerful to really repesent accurately at non-epic levels, especially starting her out as a brand spanking new character. I suppose I'd start her out as Monk 1...and then let her pick up Psion levels later on. While I really can't help the OP (River is way to ridiculously poweful to place in DnD), I feel a need to chastise you for not catching a Firefly reference. A decent show, but kind of overrated. It had clever dialogue, I saw it as the "West Wing" of Sci-Fi. The characters were too flat for me to find it completely engaging. Every episode was "Yeah I get it, the Captain has a heart of gold hidden beneath his gruff and pragmatic exterior. I also got it the last time, when his name was 'Han Solo.'" He even bickered with the hooker-character in precisely the same way as Han and Leia, with neither wanting to admit their very thinly disguised feelings. Nothing against people who really liked it, but those folks who missed it hardly need to be chastised for not seeing a show that only a tiny minority saw in its first airing. It might have been a great show, if they'd had a few seasons to develop the characters out beyond the 2-D level, but ... In a sense, it was like the Matrix. When I saw that film I envisionsed how great it could be if they continued the saga and really fleshed out some of the possibilities of the franchise. Then they did....but the sequels were crap (imo). Firefly was a good show and it could have been a great show in the future, but in my opinion it didn't really break any new ground in its first (and last) season, and much of the "genius" that is attributed to the show relates to what "might have been," rather than on the actual merits of the show itself.
Thindelock 01-31-06, 11:33 AM	I'd say the ideal for River would be a monk-seer (psion) gestalt character in a non-gestalt game. Which is, of course, broken beyond recognition, but she is supposed to be incredibly powerful. (Gestalt is in Unearthed Arcana, if you're interested.) I would even Prestige the monk side of the gestalt into the Fist of Zuoken class (unapproachable east) to get the River vs. the Reavers effect: "Yes, I can flurry of blows with a waraxe in each hand." To pull it off as a PC without Gestalt rules, consider Psychic Warrior with lots of Expanded Knowledge feats to give her some powers off the Seer, Telepath, and general Psion list. Alternately, monk into the Fist of Zuoken prestige class isn't a bad call; it doesn't give the full psionic might of River, but it emphasises her kick-butt combat ability as seen in the movie.
Pandaemoni 01-31-06, 01:11 PM	I'd say the ideal for River would be a monk-seer (psion) gestalt character in a non-gestalt game. Which is, of course, broken beyond recognition, but she is supposed to be incredibly powerful. (Gestalt is in Unearthed Arcana, if you're interested.) I would even Prestige the monk side of the gestalt into the Fist of Zuoken class (unapproachable east) to get the River vs. the Reavers effect: "Yes, I can flurry of blows with a waraxe in each hand." To pull it off as a PC without Gestalt rules, consider Psychic Warrior with lots of Expanded Knowledge feats to give her some powers off the Seer, Telepath, and general Psion list. Alternately, monk into the Fist of Zuoken prestige class isn't a bad call; it doesn't give the full psionic might of River, but it emphasises her kick-butt combat ability as seen in the movie. Making her a gestalt character is a clever solution.
Tlazcotl 02-01-06, 12:48 PM	Well if you can't tell by my signature below, I am a huge Serenity fan myself. :D Let's see here. River is a difficult character to represent with simple PC classes. In order to play her correctly, you're going to need a bit of help from your DM. She is very adept at physical combat, of course. Monk would be appropriate; but doesn't really represent her martial aptitude very accurately (3/4 HD BAB). The hard part (mentioned above) is representing her range of psionic abilities. Of course she would possess the ability to read minds but, in order to represent her particular "flavor" of extrasensory perception, I suggest giving her some sort of constant telepathy combined with the Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness (pg. 126). She never consciously delved into the deep memories of others, but did somehow rip a good chunk of buried secrets from the minds of "Key members of Parliment" pre-movie, so the Mind Probe power would be a viability. She was consciously able to read the surface thoughts of those around her, so Read Thoughts would also apply. The last (and most difficult) ability to represent is River's psychosis. For this, I suggest consulting the Unearthed Arcana. That book has excellent suggestions for sanity points and how to deal with mental disorders. -Tlaz
colyn kell 02-02-06, 12:14 PM	I have actually thought about this a good deal. I've not seen all of the episodes of Firefly, but I have seen Serenity allot. According to the movie the only psi-power she has is the ability to read minds. I would only take the barest spellcasting and/or psionic levels to get "telepathy". After that, I would go all martial. Monk most certainly does not represent the character very well. I would suggest fighter, going into the only Prc that could possibly be River Tamm, Dervish. All ten levels of Dervish. If gestalt is an option, take a few spellcasting levels and monk on one side, and fighter/dervish on the other. Monk would be an option if it had a full BaB, after all, she doesn't miss.
aelryinth 02-03-06, 03:37 AM	Excuse me, she's a programmed fighting machine taking on a bunch of level 2-3 warriors, fighters and barbarians stupified with constant rage. They have no armor to speak of, and an AC penalty. If she has a TH bonus of +10 or greater, she's going to hit them every time. I'd peg her about 12th level, VERY smart, VERY wise (aware), using D20 Modern Dex affects TH rolls (VERY graceful), and with Wis stacking as an insight bonus for all TH rolls and INt for AC as a result of her mindreading, as well as giving her a monk AC bonus. In D@D, just mix up programmed fighter, psychic warror and monk levels. She's awesome because she can dodge thrown things (all monks can), she's way higher level then a bunch of insane mooks, and she actually has AC bonuses. If she's as smart as they say, 20 Int....programming for 20 Wis and Dex...she's got a 25-27 AC at least going up against thugs with +5 or 6 to hit. Add Competence bonus for levels from D20 modern and she's effectively unhittable by those guys...and chopping them down like hash with just some Power Attacks and Flurries. Really, Epic? Don't think so. Just imagine your twinked out level 12 fighter staring down a bunch of mooks. he'd look pretty impressive cleaving his way through the ranks with a zweihander, no? ==Aelryinth
Talen Lee 02-05-06, 09:09 PM	Can someone clear up this 'Too Powerful To Be Nonepic' Nonsense? You're talking about a girl who beat up, what, Jayne when he was surprised? Jayne, who's worried about the 20d6 damage he'd take from falling out of the Serenity? Seriously. If you want to make a River-Like character, a Seer/Monk gestalt is an easy solution, a Fist of Zuoken a slightly less easy one (taking Expanded Power to get some of the predictive abilities). But please, let's put down the crack pipe and stop thinking Good At Things = Epic.
Tlazcotl 02-06-06, 04:51 PM	Can someone clear up this 'Too Powerful To Be Nonepic' Nonsense? ... ...But please, let's put down the crack pipe and stop thinking Good At Things = Epic. Thank you. I am also growing weary of the multitude of "they should be epic" posts. If you haven't read a dungeons and dragons novel and then compared the fantastic exploits of a character to their published stat's (Faerunian characters would be the most obvious: Drizzt Do'Urden, Mirt the Moneylender, etc..) you might consider doing so. These personalities pull off some seriously Terminator-style stunts but not all of them are epic. Some, (like Drizzt) may be higher level, but a quality dungeonmaster and interested players can pull off exciting and robust feats with just as much flair using their imaginations. I am a staunch proponent of a balance between rules v. creative license, but a good game should sway one way or the other if doing so will increase the amount of fun that everyone has. Sorry, don't mean to rant or burn anyone. Everyone enjoys a different game. Just wanted to thank Talen Lee for voicing a congruent oppinion. -Game on! :)
Talen Lee 02-06-06, 05:27 PM	A fine example would be that a 35 on a Jump check will let you clear the world record. You can get a 35 on a jump check by level 10. You're not world-famous (able to be learned about Via Legend Lore) until level 11.